Laura's Page

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

South Africa President Jacob Zuma Startling Remarks About Marikana

The President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, while addressing students at the Pretoria University made some startling remarks regarding the 2012 Marikana killings. He spoke about the police and actions leading up to the death of 34 miners. Zuma said the miners killed people, and the police stopped the killings, a real turnaround of actual events.

Zuma is protecting the police ahead of the release of the report due at the end of this month. The report would probably state facts of police brutality and intentions to shoot to kill. Previous media reports regarding the Marikana disaster and videos reflect the aggressive and spontaneous action of the police who acted merciless shooting miners without consideration of life. The police were not acting in self-defense and gunned down striking workers. Although the miners were armed with pangas, knives, and spears, they were vigilant wanting to make a point of fighting the right to earn a decent wage.

A weeping struggle of miners spurred on by union officials to strike and protest for an increase in wages and public services began protesting. It is the frustration of the African National Congress (ANC) government and unions who moved too slow to deliver wage increase that caused the demonstrations which led to one of the deadliest protests since the end of apartheid.

The public does not trust the South African Police and the shootings at Marikana in 2012 is indicative of the gung-ho attitude pervading the police. The report due to be released might mention that behind the police were troops from a parachute regiment who were armed with machine guns. Top ANC officials including the deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa, who owns the labor brokering company Shanduka through which the mine workers could obtain jobs at the mine are implicated in this fiasco. Allegations that Shanduka withheld miners wages are cited as a cause of disgruntlement and instigation of protests.

At the time of the Marikana disaster, President Zuma condemned the killings and made no reference to the handling of the situation by the police. The failure of government and the absence of action contribute to the contempt of the law. The government, however, did establish a commission to inquire into the causes and circumstances of this event.

It is evident that Zuma defended the actions of the police and is now twisting the truth of the ANC government contribution of senseless deaths. Zuma said the audience should understand that the Marikana people had killed people, and the police were stopping the killings. Vigilant attacks are becoming more violent and deadly throughout South Africa..........READ THE ENTIRE STORY - PUBLISHED TODAY ON THE GUARDIAN LV

Sunday, June 21, 2015

South Africa Free Education for All Learners

The President of South Africa Jacob Zuma addressed a rally and said it was the government’s plan to provide free education to all learners. People have to love this president, for making such a generous gesture of aiming to educate South Africans. The current education system has collapsed, and there is not enough money to fix the country’s electricity supply, the water crisis needs urgent attention, and Zuma is talking about creating industrialists.

Zuma said education should not have a price tag, and education should not be sold as a product or only available to minorities. Zuma said the African National Congress (ANC) party was serious about free education. During the speech, the president said that if the government were dictators the police would ensure all children attended school and children addicted to drugs would be forced to go to Robben Island for education. However, the president said the government was not dictators and, therefore, would aim to provide free education, and this would help to break the shackles of poverty.

At first Zuma would have to get people to become qualified educators to educate learners. It would be an attempt to get the people trained not to burn down schools when anger and resentment are aimed at government failures. There have been serious incidents in the past when schools have been destroyed, not enough equipment, no textbooks and standards lowered to such an appalling degree that learners graduate without any knowledge.

While it might be said that Mathematics and Science are the foundation of any modern economy, the results obtained by students throughout South Africa spells doom for standards of living and any hope of progress. The students in South Africa have underperformed in both language and mathematics. The numeracy and literacy levels are lowered causing hopelessness, anger and violence through a useless education system.

The ANC should have in all earnest began investing in education 21 years ago and, unfortunately, have now produced a generation that will not be employed due to substandard education grades. Education will certainly help to fix the current problems that the country is experiencing and at the same time might hamper the ANC rule. Educated people will understand democracy and might not vote for the ANC.

Presently, free education in South Africa is working at school entry level but the conditions of these no fee schools are appalling. At times, there is no electricity or water due to unpaid bills. Teachers are not paid salaries on time, due to the Education Department delaying payments. Schools are not maintained; sports fields are no longer in use, long grass and weeds cover the once cherished place of the schools. There is no security at the free schools as budgets could not afford additional expenses, along with a never ending list of wrongs that must be corrected................READ THE ENTIRE STORY - PUBLISHED TODAY ON THE GUARDIAN LV

Saturday, June 20, 2015

South Africa the ANC Apartheid and Eskom

The African National Congress (ANC) and the apartheid regime both have a historical interest in developing and destroying Eskom, the power giant of South Africa. In the 46 years that apartheid was practiced, South African became a leading economy on the African Continent. When Jan Van Riebeeck arrived in 1652, there was nothing; a barren land turned into a powerhouse, rich in mineral resources and substantial infrastructure. During the apartheid heydays, the world acquired high profits on investments and Eskom the state-owned corporation had an abundance of power, so much so that neighboring countries benefited from the growth.

The ANC have been ruling South Africa for 21 years, almost half the number of years of apartheid rule and almost destroyed everything built under the old regime. A democratic country since 1994, and nothing accomplished in 21 years. Instead of building on what was given freely, the country is slowly being turned into a bushland status. Infrastructure is crumbling, crime is out of control, the genocide of the white population is stepping up. Corruption, thievery and fraud are the order of the day. Education is almost gone, a failed system to keep the uneducated ignorant. Medical care is practically non-existent, hospitals are in a crisis and so the list goes on.

In January this year, at an ANC rally, Zuma said all of South Africa’s problems began when Jan van Riebeeck arrived in Cape Town. Before the rally could begin in earnest, a praise singer said that the spirit of Dutch colonizer Jan van Riebeeck needed to be exorcised. Perhaps the reason for the exorcism was to eliminate the curse of the white man who destroyed everything built by the black man. Perhaps it was based on Eskom pumping out electricity to the entire region, the tarred roads, universities, water infrastructures, and airports that all flourished before 1652. It was under apartheid that the black ingenuity was destroyed, yet it is really an empty man with far too much power.

Load sheeting (blackouts) are happening all the time, due to maintenance problems, lack of diesel, wet coal and Eskom CEO’s are probably on knees praying there is enough electricity for Nkandla. Eskom needs money, and there is no money in the box. However, President Jacob Zuma has a trusted and reliable plan, yet the well-tried blame it on apartheid for the failures of the ANC government. Zuma will say the electricity problem is a result of the legacy of apartheid, and not of the ANC leadership; however much blamed or misguided the reasons are, it does not produce electricity...............READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE - PUBLISHED TODAY ON THE GUARDIAN LV

Opinion by Laura Oneale

Edited by Chanel van der Woodsen

The Marikana Report (VIDEO)

President Jacob Zuma is delaying the release of the Marikana Report until June 30 and probably due to good communistic reasons. Zuma is still studying the report, and cannot release this to the public until “we” (meaning ANC bigwigs) have a clear indication of instruction and understanding of the recommendations. The report was handed to Zuma at the end of March. Why would he want the world to know that the African National Congress (ANC) party is guilty of oppressing people in a democratic country? The report is said to name prominent government leaders, including Cyril Ramaphosa, the deputy president of South Africa.

In a video, (link is below) a miner who survived that fateful day said, "when Mandela became president of South Africa, he ended the oppression of millions who suffered under the old apartheid regime and now under the Zuma presidency, the people are once again being oppressed. "

On August 12, 2012, 34 black miners were killed and scores more injured by the South African Police Force, acting on instructions from a top ANC executive to "Shoot to Kill."

There was no outrage from international communities at this human rights abuse. A cold-blooded murder in a democratic country under the ANC government, and if this had to happen during the apartheid era there would have been a war. The Marikana killings have been compared to the Sharpeville and Soweto riots and many will recall the wrath and condemnation of the white government for merciless killings. Sanctions toppled the country, embargoes were put in place, travelling became a problem and South Africa was isolated from the world, banned from sporting events, including the Olympics. Under apartheid deaths like the Marikana killings were regarded as hate crimes and splashed all over the world.

What is the difference between the Marikana killings and the Soweto riots? Is there a comparison, or is the world blinded by the Zuma charm?

The ANC have implemented communist tactics like muzzling the press, allowing the police to kill, land grabs, the genocide of minority groups, and instilling fear into the brain-dead supporters. Marikina was no accident, it was planned to show the people what would happen if they continue to protest, either over wage disputes, service deliveries or any other protest.

The ANC have probably received the green light from the international community for their bully tactics and mindless actions, after all there was no noise or outrage over the innocent loss of lives.

Link to Marikana News

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/EFF-Has-Ramaphosa-received-Marikana-report-officially-or-unofficially-20150617

Friday, June 19, 2015

South Africa the Eskom Begging Bowl

Eskom, the power giant of South Africa is once again holding the begging bowl for more money. The power giant need money; there is none left for maintenance, upgrades, and the continued blackouts will not stop until Eskom gets more money.

The Eskom power utility diverts electricity to neighboring countries, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Swaziland, and Lesotho while South African faces rolling blackouts. Eskom cannot supply local power demands yet provide countless other countries.

ANC spin doctors come out in defense of the power giant and declare that the government has not received sufficient reports about the country being adversely affected by the ongoing power cuts. The power outages are crippling the economy, and the government does not recognize that the Eskom problem is a crisis at this stage.

Yet, (that is the magic ANC word), the spin-doctors would tell the good story of the new power plants, the escalating maintenance plans, the new CEO and ongoing commitment of how many people have received electricity since 1994. Not much is said about the Medupi power station that was scheduled to come online in 2012 and the failure of not completing this within the planned time-frame or the double cost the new plant will incur due to incompetence.

It is not only the Medupi power station; there is the coal-burning power plant meant to produce about 4,800MW once all units are completed. Of course, this would make a vast difference to the present capacity and could be used as a backup system while other generators are shut down for maintenance. Eskom changed the date from 2012 to 2013 and then moved on to 2014 and now it might be 2015 but more likely 2017. There is a tiny problem that needs to be resolved and the development of the control technology for the power plant to produce electricity is not finished. A French company Alstom is behind on the schedule, and Eskom approached a German Company Siemens to complete the first two-8000MW units. Unfortunately, Siemens did not perfect the technology either. In the meantime, Alstom will be working on the other four units. Competence at its best, build a power station around technology that is still being developed and not tested successfully. At least the building of the power plant is being done, and Eskom can produce something of the ZAR105 billion South African taxpayers have paid.

The power plant deal of Eskom puts the ANC arms deal to shame. At least the unions are smiling, as the delays, or sabotage of the project prolongs the building phase, it means the workers receive more benefits and higher wages. Eskom subcontracting to dodgy companies does not help the progress either. There was an incident when delays with supplying electricity were caused by faulty welding inside a boiler. Eskom took action against an unnamed contractor for falsifying paperwork and taking short cuts with procedural work.

As outgoing CEO, Brian Dames said in a media briefing “Eskom is in control.” One can question the merits of control, when school rooms are in the dark, homes are in the dark, business shut down due to no power, and chaos on the roads in South Africa.

Now Eskom wants a further 25.3 percent tariff increase and there is mounting criticism by Unions and public against the power giant calling for yet another bailout. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) was quick to defend the working class of South Africa calling the increase an outrage against the poor people of South Africa. COSATU represents millions of ordinary workers who can barely afford to live above the breadline and increasing the tariff again will have an adverse effect on the well-being of millions.

Another outgoing Eskom CEO Tshediso Matona indicated that the problem and challenges for the power giant to keep the lights on were the failure of maintenance of plants. Matona, compared the power plant maintenance to that of a car, saying if not maintained would deteriorate. However, the question should be why consumers and, in particular, the working class be liable for Eskom’s incompetence. Eskom management is to blame for delays and maintenance programs, and it would be unfair to hold the consumers accountable for failures caused by mismanagement.

There is a major concern that business and communities will suffer from the impact of higher electricity tariffs. Eskom will not reduce the cost over a period of years and therefore once the green light is passed for the increase, there may yet be another demand for money next year.

COSATU does support the ANC and amplifies the good work and essential services the democratic government has delivered to the people of South Africa since 1994. However, COSATU believes an increase in electricity charges would negate all the good work the ruling party has produced. COSATU happily report on the people who have been excluded from basic services from the evil apartheid system and the generous free electricity of 50kwh a month given to its citizens. - READ THE ENTIRE STORY - PUBLISHED TODAY ON THE GUARDIAN LV